Kevin's 30th birthday celebrations!

Lighting the big THREE-OH candle.

Kevin's 30th birthday celebrations!

Christine planned a birthday drinks surprise party for Kevin at a gastropub in Blackheath, London. All our friends from his frisbie team and all our friends from Canada joined us for an evening of catching up and drinks and cake and nibbles. Christine baked a double layer lemon and chocolate cake and decorated the party area before Kevin's arrival.

Dinner with Judy and Brian, Toronto visit

Dinner together at Revo restaurant, Etobicoke.

Christine got published - The Guardian newspaper

The Guardian newspaper (a UK financial newspaper) approached me for an interview on how life is after the credit crunch. This was weeks ago and I didn't think my story would get published, but was very excited to find an article written about me on the front cover of the "work" section of the Guardian newspaper.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/oct/25/workandcareers-creditcrunch

Kevin and I were super excited indeed!

Wedding venue booked!

We have finally made progress planning our wedding and have secured a wedding venue in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The Brock House is situated near Jericho Beach and we will have an outdoor wedding on Saturday, August 8th, 2009.

www.brockhouserestaurant.com

We will send out "save the date" notices to all our family and guests this weekend.

Kevin at the driving range and photo from Gibraltar Rock

This was taken at the top of the Gibraltar Rock near the airport on the day we returned to London. It's the Mediterranean Sea.

home made fajitas at the Villa, Spain

We stayed at a villa within walking distance to a golf course which had gorgeous views. We mostly ate outside due to such warm weather.

more photos in Ronda, Spain

This was taken after a long drive up the mountains in Ronda, Spain. It's a beautiful village.

The family

This was taken at aunt Margaret and uncle Roger's wine & cheese evening at their house. Everyone is all grown up now. Kevin and Shawn's haircut look so similar in this photo. In this photo from left to right

Toronto visit Sept 2008

It was lovely catching up with friends and family during our 9 day holiday in Toronto, Canada. This is photo of the Stedmann's having cake at a local bakery after a yummy thai dinner.

Ronda Drive

In Spain, we decided to go for a short drive to a town called Ronda. Little did we know, it was in the middle of the mountains! The trip back down the mountain was a dusk, and here is the beautiful sunset we saw.

Gibraltar Monkeys

After a two hour flight from London, we landed in the "British" portion of Spain. Once we landed, we walked across the border and spent a long weekend basking in the sun. On returning to the airport, we had enough time to visit the "rock", and here are the great monkeys.... I understand they are actually apes, as they do not have tails, but I'm no expert! They were great though!

Hospes Amerigo hotel

The courtyard between the hotel restaurant and the hotel itself.
More photos can be viewed if you click on the link below.

http://www.epoquehotels.com/h.php/alicante-hotels/boutique-hotel/h/hospesamerigo/l/en

The tram in Alicante

This photo was taken inside the public tram transportation. Within 30-40 minutes, we travelled to other neaby beaches where there were less tourists. All the signs were in Spanish and we missed our stop because we assumed the tram would stop at each station, but it doesn't. It only stops if you press the stop request button which is the same button to open the tram doors. (a little too subtle) but we got to the beach no problem in the end.

"Paraguayos"- funny looking flat peaches

We found this at a local Supermacado (supermarket). We wanted to get some fruits to take with us to the beach and found these funny looking peaches next to the fuzzy peaches. It's called Paraguayos and they tastes similar to peaches but the flesh is white/yellowy instead of orange and they are delicious. In America, these are commonly called "donut" peaches.

Hospes Amerigo- famous buffet breakfast

We realised we were too amazed by the yummy buffet breakfast that we had forgotten to take photos of the buffet breakfast bar. But here is a photo of their tasty breakfast buffet. There are more photos of the hotel's interior on their website. Just click on the link below.

http://www.fuenso.com/index.php?seccio=hospes_descripcio&establiment=1&desti=1

local area alongside the beach

On weekdays, this area is full of retired folks who just come out and enjoy the sun with their grandchildren. On weekends, there are many hawkers who sell little tinkets and things. According to history books in the bookshop, this area existed since 1828 and it looks pretty much the same now as it did back then with wooden chairs freely set up for locals to sit around and enjoy the sun whilst chatting about current events. The beach closest to our hotel is just located behind the palm trees.

The Beach

We went to a nearby beach called El Campello. There were less tourists and the area is more residential and commercial which is very relaxing. We took the local tram which has very clean interiors and all cars have air conditioning. Here's Kevin putting on sunscreen before soaking up the sun.

Alicante, Spain June 2008

Kevin standing outside the Hotel "Hospes Amerigo" Truely an amazing experience. This hotel was rated one of the nicest hotels on TripAdvisor because of it's location and friendly staff. We most definitely would return whenever we visit Alicante again.